A socio-political and cultural blog from the Republic of Ireland. The truth about the Celtic Tiger, it's demise and other related matters. Fír-eolas ar an Tíogar Cheiltigh, a thurnamh agus nithe gaolmhara eile.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

An American scout-attack drone was intercepted in the
Crimean sky, the Rostec state corporation reports (Russian Technology and Aerospace Corporation). "Judging by side
marking, the MQ-5B drone was part of the 66th US brigade of military
intelligence with the main location in Bavaria," the report on the website
of the corporation reads.

According to the report, at the beginning of March, the
American brigade was relocated to the Ukrainian Kirovohrad, from where drones
commit reconnaissance raids in the direction of Crimea and Russian border
areas.

Earlier, they reportedly appeared in the Kherson region, in
the area of the Crimean roadblock Chongar. "According to some data, the
American reconnaissance brigade had 18 MQ-5B drones in its arsenal. This is the
second time the American UAV is intercepted over Crimea," the report says.

"The drone was at the height of about 4 thousand meters
and was practically invisible from the earth. It was possible to break the
drone’s link with its American operators with the help of the EW (electronic
warfare) complex Avtobaza. As a result, the device made an emergency landing
and passed into the possession of the Crimean self-defense forces almost
unbroken," the report says.

The US Military denied it had any operating drones in Ukraine.

The presence of these US troops in Ukraine gives the lie to Washington's public declarations of wanting a "peaceful resolution" of the situation in Ukraine a point forcefully made by the largest peace-group in the USA, the United National Anti-War Coalition (UNAC) in their statement on Ukraine:

The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) Demands
"US Hands off Ukraine and Venezuela"

Statement from UNAC:

The United States government is the main instigator of the
present crises in both countries.

The hypocrisy of Secretary of State John Kerry’s statement
on Face the Nation, “You just don't in the 21st century behave in 19th century
fashion by invading another country on completely trumped up pretext," is
beyond belief. What about the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, or
regime change in Libya, or the threats to bomb Syria and attack Iran?

The US has waged a massive propaganda campaign of
misinformation, distortion, and outright lies and the national media has taken
the State Department’s “facts” and disseminated them without question or
challenge. News about the US/EU role in creating the current crisis is
buried.

The US is the only country that has its troops throughout
the world in over 120 countries. It sends drones and special operations
forces to kill anyone and anywhere it chooses and uses its vast economic power
to undercut any government that will not submit to its policies. Although
there is lip service to concerns about democracy and sovereignty, the reality
is that the US acts in the interests of preserving its imperialist power and
wealth.

Ukraine and Venezuela are not exceptions to this rule of
imperialist intervention. For 20 years, $5 billion was invested in
Ukraine to support the opposition and to create tens of thousands of
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to move the country more towards the US
and EU and their policies. In an intercepted phone call between Assistant
Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and the US ambassador to Ukraine, she
discusses who the US wants to be the head of the new illigitimate government,
and lo and behold, the US pick, Arseniy Yatseniuk, is named as the interim
Ukrainian leader. This is clearly outside intervention in the affairs of
a sovereign country that would not be tolerated if directed at the US or its
allies.

What are the real objectives and why is Russia so
alarmed? Could it be the US-NATO campaign to militarily surround Russia
and bring neighboring countries into the western military and financial
orbit? Might it be that the largest supply of natural gas in the world is
in Russia and the pipelines go through Ukraine, or that global warming is
opening the Arctic to oil drilling and Russia borders the Arctic? It is
clear that Russia will not passively sit by while the Western-backed coup, led
by violent fascist forces and local billionaires, overthrows a democratically
elected government and installs a puppet regime on its border.

By treaty, Russia can have 25,000 troops in Crimea. To
protect its military base there and to protect the people in the Eastern and
Southern parts of the country, where the coup is not supported, Russia has
moved some troops to the Ukrainian border and into the Crimean peninsula.
Many in the east and south are fearful of the new coup government and the
neo-Nazi and nationalist forces that led the street demonstrations.

The escalating threats of military and economic aggression
towards Russia should not be taken lightly. Washington’s recklessness and
disregard for humanity have resurrected the worst vestiges of cold war
politics. They have created a dangerous situation that can generate a
real war with an adversary with a powerful military of its own.

The US is similarly intervening in Venezuela.
There, the US government wants a return to policies which brought the benefits
of that nation’s oil wealth to a privileged few. The Bolivarian Revolution has
been supported by a majority of Venezuelans in election after election. Yet the
United States persists in violating the sovereignty and self-determination of
the Venezuelan people. In 2002, the US supported a coup against the late
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. During this coup, Chavez was forced onto a US
military plane to be taken out of the country. The Venezuelan people and
military were able to rescue Chavez and defeat the coup. However, the US
has continued to intervene in Venezuela causing the government of Nicolas
Maduro to expel three US officials for trying to organize students for
anti-government protests.

As long as the United States is committed to aggression, the
whole world is endangered, just as Ukraine and Venezuela are. Libya fell,
Syria is under attack, there is a “pivot to Asia”, and Africom controls the
military in almost every African nation. We must demand that our government
stop its policy of imperialist domination which generates conflict throughout
the world.

NO TO US WARS, THREATS, ATTACKS, SANCTIONS, AND COVERT
OPERATIONS IN UKRAINE, RUSSIA, VENEZUELA, AND ALL OTHER SOVEREIGN COUNTRIES!

MONEY FOR JOBS, EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE AND MEETING SOCIAL NEEDS, NOT WAR AND
AGGRESSION TO BENEFIT THE RICH!

UNAC speaks for the majority of the US population who, in all recent polls, declared over 70% oppose Washington's warmongering policies across the globe, a demand, of course,

continuously ignored by "democratic" leaders in that country.

(In May, 2012, UNAC assembled more than 20,000 protesters in Chicago, Illinois, to demonstrate against the planned NATO Leaders Summit in the city; the largest demonstration there for many years. President Obama was forced to cancel the Summit in his home town and move it to Camp David near Washington. see here: